President Barack Obama stands with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife Kristiani Herawati during a family photo before the East Asia Summit Gala dinner in Nusa Dua, on the island of Bali

President Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono talk as Balinese dancers perform on stage at the East Asia Summit dinner

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What a beautiful difference five years makes. Just sayin’:

President George W. Bush chats with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of the Asian-Pacific leaders meeting in Hanoi, 19 November 2006.

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President Obama speaks after announcing a commercial deal between Boeing and Indonesia’s Lion Air at a signing ceremony in Nusa Dua, on the island of Bali, Indonesia.

Boeing and Lion Air have reached agreement on the purchase of 201 Boeing 737MAX and 29 Next Generation 737ER aircraft. The order will support over 110,000 U.S. jobs at Boeing and at suppliers in 43 states. This represents one of the largest trade deals between the United States and Indonesia in history….

Boeing and Singapore Airlines have reached agreement on the purchase of eight Boeing 777-300ER widebody aircraft with a total list price value of $2.4 billion, $2 billion in U.S. export content and supporting an estimated 11,000 U.S. jobs….

The Hill: A senior military official says U.S. forces soon will begin winding down counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, signaling a major shift in the decade-old conflict.

U.S. forces are working to “set the conditions” for Afghan government officials and security forces to assume control of key provinces by next fall as American troops begin to exit, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos told The Hill.

NYT: Chrysler said Wednesday that it would add 1,100 jobs at a sport utility vehicle plant here as it spends $1.7 billion developing new models for its Jeep brand.

…. Chrysler is one of several carmakers adding large numbers of jobs in the United States after years of steep employment declines in the auto industry. On Thursday, Toyota is scheduled to begin production at a new plant in Mississippi that will employ about 2,000 people.

The mayor of Toledo, Mike Bell, described Chrysler’s announcement as “the equivalent of a blood transfusion” for this heavily industrial city along the Michigan border.

FactCheck: Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney both claim President Barack Obama said that “Americans are lazy.” He didn’t. To the contrary, Obama has consistently and repeatedly praised American workers as the “most productive in the world,” a bit of boosterism he has repeated dozens of times. His recent words — “we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades” – actually referred to collective efforts to promote foreign investment in the U.S., and not to American workers or voters as individuals. Perry and Romney simply rip those words out of their context in order to mislead.

Washington Post: A think tank founded by GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich collected at least $37 million over the past eight years from major health-care companies and industry groups, offering special access to the former House speaker and other perks, according to records and interviews.

You are amazing! I really think the Obama team should seriously recruiting you to run a rapid response to any right wing manufactured outrages they try to throw at the President. By the way, If I remember correctly, I think George W. Bush also wore an African dashiki when he visited one of the West African countries. On the other hand, may be It was Bill Clinton.

it’s all the same crap Perry, Romney, and FoxnesDrudge. they have nothing agaisnt this great
president the only thing they gor are lies a bunch lies so mr president you are doing wonderful,
and we have your back.

I’m good thanks. Just catching up on all the videos of your amazing President whilst editing my book. Much rather be looking at PBO than ‘working’ but need to get on with the editing before finding a publisher. The writing was the fun part!

Hope you are keeping well and loving the coverage of Barack’s trip to the Asia Pacific. I know I am.

Ah Sam, that’s great to hear, he sounds like a real warrior, thrilled he’s doing well. Hey, my memory is so bad I sometimes forget what day it is, so it was a pure fluke that I remembered to ask about your Dad!

From the day I took office, I’ve been told that addressing our larger challenges is too ambitious; such an effort would be too contentious. I’ve been told that our political system is too gridlocked, and that we should just put things on hold for a while. For those who make these claims, I have one simple question: How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?

This is appropriate, given the high speed rail derailment that the GOP is trying to do. (You always find the perfect quote).

The President said recently that the some are trying to convince Americans that the country can’t do big things anymore. But, people really need to understand that 5, 10, 20 years down the line, the people who will suffer for this demoralization are the children – who will be ill-equipped to compete in a world that passed them by, and ran with the ideas that President Obama so clearly articulated. Four day a week school, large class sizes, malnutrition (I mean, really, pizza is a vegetable?), poor health, social inequality, close-minded bigotry and stupidity celebrated as a value. This is what kids are being armed with to compete in the 21st century. And while kids are getting shortchanged, they’re being told to discount science and historical fact, to value the Kardashians and reality television. Their leaders are telling them that reading and intellect is bad. And leadership is being defined as bullying, unfounded superiority, ugly rhetoric and who can prey on the most ignorant people and get them to believe in the most outrageous lies.

What’s going on here is not just a travesty for the country. The US really has led the world in many things. All countries have their beauty and their strengths, but that innovative and pioneering spirit that is found here in the US, and that brash charisma is uniquely American – people valued that, all around the world. I honestly think the world is rooting for America to wake up and grow up, but the world is also not hanging around waiting. Republicans are bad for this country. They have sold themselves as the party of business, but their vision is short-sighted – which is extremely bad for a sustainable economy and culture. The United States needs to grab hold of President Obama with both hands – his vision truly is inspiring and historic. I just hope the potential he sees is given a chance to be realized.

MSNBC is on a big Huntsman push, his daughters were all over their programs yesterday, and today he gets the red carpet treatment to make his increasingly hostile criticisms of Obama, a last gasp for attention.

His problem always was that he and Romney share the same voters and Romney is the established brand name with the established campaign and established donor lists. For Huntsman to make any gains he needs to peel them off of Romney, and that simply isn’t going to happen. The only votes in play now are the anti-Romney voters and Huntsman is Romney not an anti-Romney.

I think Huntsman seriously underestimated PBO’s current popularity (probably by watching Morning Joke, MSNBC and reading certain blogs). He thought that he would just announce his candidacy and everyone would just rush to him. At this time in his candidacy President Obama already was the clear runner-up and in many polls actually surpassed Hillary #1 on two key factors among primary Dem voters: 1. Likeability, and 2. Trust. Obama’s appearance in the SNL 2007 Halloween edition already elicited a huge positive reaction from the audience. Huntsman is so desperate that he needs his daughters and constant media pushing to help his flagging candidacy.

And as for the so-called liberals who claim that Huntsman is the best thing since sliced bread. They are going to have an extremely difficult time justifying why they would vote for Huntsman over Obama. Huntsman is FOR preserving the bush tax cuts while slashing SS, Medicare/Medicaid and Veteran benefits (RYAN PLAN), Huntsman has ties to Koch brothers, doing business in China, etc, and most importantly, why would you trust someone who quits his job to run against his boss?

In a stunning reversal, the Arizona Supreme Court tonight reversed an attempted power grab by Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and her Republican colleagues in the state legislature.

Last month, the state Senate took up Brewer’s push to impeach Colleen Mathis, the chairwoman of Arizona’s independent bipartisan redistricting commission. Even Brewer herself couldn’t explain how Mathis had exhibited “neglect of duty and gross misconduct,” the only grounds for impeachment in Arizona. Indeed, Mathis’ only real “crime” appears to be that she led a commission which drew a new congressional map with more competitive districts than had existed previously.

The ruling came less than three hours after the court heard arguments on the case, which revolved around the extent to which the commission is free of outside political interference.

The court decided the governor’s Nov. 1 removal letter to Colleen Coyle Mathis did not demonstrate “substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office or inability to discharge the duties of office.”

I suspect this isn’t over and she’ll move to block this redistricting again as early as today. However I wonder if this will make her lose the votes for any move in the State Senate, as some were skittish before and now would have the Az Supreme Court ruling – Brewer is term limited I believe, but some of the State Senators are in purple-er districts or have aspirations for higher offices and might decide they don’t want this fight as bad as Ben Quayle, his mother, and Brewer want it.

Good Afternoon,
Didn’t they recall a governor once? Also, since she finished Janet Napolitano’s term, can she run again? Can we hope the people of AZ have awaken from their dream and they will turn the whole state blue?

We sure did but he got impeached and charged with a felony before the vote could go through! Little Janie had better be a bit concerned about that. A politician in AZ can be recalled “at the will of the voters” with no particular reason necessary but that we are sick of them. All we need is enough voter signatures!

This is not only my first time seeing this video, it is also my first comment on TOD. I have been reading this blog slowly over the past year and more and more over the past few months. There is really a difference in the Cain vs Obama response to the thought of their respective hubbies getting the position of POTUS. Remarkable! “The Closer” is right. There is nothing in the world that can bring you down more than when your main squeeze does not have your back. She has his back undoubtedly. She had it then and she has it now. Thank you to Chipsticks for this wonderful website. And thank you to Tally for reminding us about the passion we all had in 2007. I cannot wait to start working on his re-election campaign.

When President Obama won Virginia in 2008, he was the first Democrat to do so since 1964.

But with his approval rating now in the low- to mid-40s, there’s a school of thought that battleground states like Virginia (which he won by almost seven percentage points, 53 percent-46 percent) could be an uphill climb in his reelection bid in 2012. It certainly is likely to be much closer than in 2008.

One reason not to count him out in Virginia is his strength and support among black voters.

“For a Caucasian Democrat in Virginia and North Carolina, it is an uphill struggle, because while they can get their fair share of African-American votes, it is unlikely they could turn out the African-American vote the way in which Barack Obama can,” said Peter D. Hart, the Democratic pollster who conducts the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll with Republican Bill McInturff.

“For a Democratic presidential candidate, in a competitive race, Barack Obama has a better chance than any Democrat — current or past — to be able to carry a state like Virginia or North Carolina, due to his strength in the African-American community and their willingness to turn out in large numbers.”

………………………

And the criticism from some high-profile African Americans, like Cornell West and Tavis Smiley, does not appear to be a widely held view among black voters.

The latest NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, for example, shows 91percent of African Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing.

Almost every article in the media has to be prefaced with this “reminder” about the President’s poll numbers and this is just utter garbage in my opinion. If president Obama found a cure for cancer today…the article would spend 25% talking about the finding of the cure, and 75% talking about his poll numbers. The media never mentions John Boehner’s super low poll numbers when reporting about his activities.

Ninety-seven-year-old Emma Lee Green balances an armload of old books and yellowing papers around the stacks of musty files in her San Bernardino attic. She remembers well the days of Jim Crow, poll taxes and literacy tests that barred many African-American citizens from the voting booth.

She witnessed first-hand the valiant struggle to ensure that all American citizens could raise their voices on Election Day.

Like she has done for nearly 65 years, last week Emma went to the polls to vote in the local elections.

But one year from now, mill ions of Black Americans like Emma could find themselves shut out of that essential democratic right.

This year, thirty-four state legislatures introduced bills requiring photo identification in order to vote. This rash of legislation classifies several previously accepted IDs as unacceptable, and will affect roughly 21 million Americans if they are passed.

With the election season on the horizon a new report is warning the legal disenfranchisement of voters threatens to play a decisive role in next year’s vote. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a non partisan policy institute change to voting laws could strip the voting rights of more than 5 million people, a higher number than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections.

Wowzers, that is a whole lot of shirt! It’s gorgeous and so is our POTUS in it. For a man who’s traveled half-way around the world, jetting to a few countries in as many days, he looks and sounds TERRIFIC. I can’t wait to see the fruits of his labor and the benefit that will come. BRAVO, Mr. President. We are behind every day you all the way.

When it comes to making up wild-eyed nonsense about the Affordable Care Act, Michele Bachmann is in a league of her own. It’s become more entertaining than annoying — I’m generally left wondering what kind of unhinged nuttiness the Republican presidential candidate may come up with next.

True to form, Bachmann doesn’t disappoint.

Michele Bachmann prides herself for pressing Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but during an appearance at Webster City, Iowa Wednesday night, the Minnesota congresswoman proved that she’s also leading the charge in developing outrageous new attacks against the legislation.

At the town hall, Bachmann complained that undocumented immigrants are exempt from paying for the law, claimed that a seven-foot doctor told her the IRS had to approve medical procedures.

I checked and Webster City newspaper does not mention Bachmann’s visit, probably trying to block it from their brains. But she also appeared at Drake U. in Des Moines, and it was reported that the students there laughed when she was introduced as “the next President of the United States”. She faced hostile questions, and I thought it was cool that a guy in an Obama t shirt finagled to be in the group of students on the stage with her.

Thanks for asking PJ. All went well, so far. My Triglyceride results was a little high, but has been for sometime now. my dr. & I discussed what can and should be done,and I am fine with that so far. Take first med. today, so will see what take place within the next 72 hours once the meds get into my bloodstream.

I feel good so far. Still waiting for one more test result s from another doctor, but I have put to bed the worrying aspect of that test. What will be , will be. I will move on with it.

Felt very pleased after dealing via phone with the pharmacy and the company with my prescriptions policy( they try to get you going and coming) but this girl was not in the mood yesterday. So, I went out and purchased a few pairs of much needed and wanted ‘flats’ to wear. $250.00 later. The cute stuff(high heels) will not work anymore on a regular with the unsteady stance that I seem to be developing. So just call me,”Miss Flat Lady Still Looking Fine.”

Speaking of fine!!! Oh, Chips, you gave me(all of us) another fine look at our wonderful POTUS in his gorgeous shirt. Oh, Mr. President, why do you do this to us so early in the morning? But go on with you Fineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Self, Mr. President.

Hurry home to our beautiful FLOTUS and the our First Daughters. They have to be missing you now. Thank you for all of that you do for us, Mr. President. We are so happy that you are our beloved President!!!!!!, and we are working on keeping it that way for another 4 more years!!!!!! Press On as Bobfr tells us. Love you all, my TOD family.HZ

US defence secretary Leon Panetta goofs up, says India is an ’emerging threat’
WASHINGTON: In a major goof, new US defence secretary Leon Panetta clubbed India and China, describing them as emerging “threats”, but his office quickly retracted the remarks, saying Washington strongly values close ties with New Delhi.

Panetta put his foot in the mouth as he departed from prepared text during a speech at a shipyard in Connecticut, where he said, “we face the threats from rising powers – China, India, others – that we have to always be aware of and try to make sure that we always have sufficient force protection out there in the Pacific to make sure they know we’re never going anywhere.”

The defence secretary’s comments came at an awkward moment just when President Barack Obama met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the two leaders agreed to boost ties not only bilaterally but at multilateral level also.

He was only made Sec Def because Gates wanted to retire (and deserved to do so) and there was no way anybody Pres. Obama wanted would get through confirmation without drama on drawdowns etc. Panetta was already confirmed to CIA gig so couldn’t really be blocked as it would make GOP look ridiculous. Also Petraeus to CIA was to ensure Panetta wouldn’t be blocked.

Panetta will be out in early 2013 once Pres Obama is re-elected. We could see the first female SecDef in 2013.

Do you think they could twist Hillary’s arm and get her to run for Sec Def? Would that be a good call? I think the President probably has a good stock of people on the bench, but they’re not well known. That’s an interesting one to watch – but, I agree, Panetta needs to go.

Hey Chips –lurker here, in plain sight. Oops. Just Wondering what happened to “Misstra Know-It-All”, that’s all.
How come you nix(on date)?” I mean we love this couple as much as anyone out there and this music makes them tick or they wouldn’t have Stevie hang out(musically) so much with them.
Besides, this particular song to a T the charlatans and clowns(muppets, you call them) parading and masquerading as presidential timber. And I have a feeling Donna will get a kick out of it on her birthday!

Thank you! I tried the link, got squiggly lines under a couple of letters in what I thought was a hyperlink then gave myself a crash course in embedding. Sure glad it worked ’cause this songs describes the muppets to a Tea.

I don’t think this is accurate. Apparently he has received credible death threats – which are not to be taken lightly. The Department of Homeland Security has to approve requests for SS protection based on standard criteria not simply based on the whims of the individual requesting the protection. I can’t stand Herman Cain but the media is going overboard in their distortions.

President Obama also received credible death threats very early on and was approved for SS detail the earliest of all presidential candidates (March 2007).

I think the requests have to go through a review process based on a series of standard criteria outlined by DHS. The media is stretching this one a bit I think. “Skirmishes with journalists” will not get the DHS to provide SS detail.

And the Cain campaign has only said that the request was because there were 50+ members of the media at every campaign appearance and that they and their equipment were causing a danger to Cain and supporters. I would think if there were actual death threats, they would say so, just like was revealed when Obama was granted SS protection during “08 campaign.

This just makes me mad. He wants taxpayers to provide Secret Service protection so that he doesn’t have to answer journalist questions? I was all for SS protection when I thought his life was in danger, but if he’s just concerned about his presidential bid being in danger from exposure to questions – that’s outrageous! I hope people get a good look at him – because that could be the future President of this country.He’s a piece of work.

Happy Birthday Alice and Donna. “It’s Friday..everythings good”! Thank you Chips for giving us a wonderful week of information about PBO and how hard he is working for the American people, bring jobs back home!

Looking at the wonderful pictures of President Barack Obama in Bali, I can’t help thinking about his amazing mother – Stanley Ann Dunham. She saw his potential for greatness. It is really sad that she did not get to see that greatness fulfilled so magnificently on the world stage. He is the gift that keeps on giving. A remarkable human being and an absolute treasure.

Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney both claim President Barack Obama said that “Americans are lazy.” He didn’t. To the contrary, Obama has consistently and repeatedly praised American workers as the “most productive in the world,” a bit of boosterism he has repeated dozens of times. His recent words — “we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades” – actually referred to collective efforts to promote foreign investment in the U.S., and not to American workers or voters as individuals. Perry and Romney simply rip those words out of their context in order to mislead.

Yes, Chips, and there’s a NEW DNC AD out exposing mitt and perrry’s LIES in a most Brilliant way! Have you seen it? I could be missing it on this board but I’ll post the link here and repost in next POST if I don’t see it on here.

Good Job, buddy! 😛

I’ll just post the link to “OOPS” cause I’m not sure how to post vids here or pics for that matter..

As Herman Cain’s sexual harassment scandal dominated campaign coverage, Mitt Romney was asked point blank at a CNBC debate whether he’d “hire” Cain as America’s CEO based on his own experience in the business world.

Romney declined to answer. “The people in this room and across the country can make their own assessment,” he told the moderator.

In this particular case, however, Romney’s business experience really was instructive. As an executive at Bain Capital he faced a similar situation in the private sector with a businessman whose successful career had been derailed by a sex scandal.

Martin Hanaka’s stint as CEO of Staples came to an ugly and very public end in 1997 after the married businessman was arrested for allegedly assaulting a secretary, Cheryl Gordon, in her apartment. Gordon told police the two were romantically linked, a claim Hanaka denied along with the accusation that he had assaulted her. But, according to reports, he told police that he had given her more than $10,000 and offered to find her a better job in an attempt to stop her from blackmailing him over a fictitious affair. The story made headlines across the country and, after an internal inquiry by Staples determined he had violated rules prohibiting fraternization, he lost his job. The assault charges ended up being thrown out by a judge at the request of both Hanaka and Gordon.

Enter Romney, who was on the board of the struggling athletics chain Sports Authority and looking for a new CEO to helm a turnaround effort. According to reports by the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, Romney recommended Hanaka for the job despite his recent scandal, arguing to board members that the matter had been resolved and that the worst allegations had been dismissed. They ended up unanimously confirming him as CEO.

They can ignore it for NOW – while people are distracted by the attention-seeking antics of Cain and Gingrich. But if Romney becomes the nominee, there’s no place to hide. He will be scrutinized heavily.

Obama has challenged China over trade, currency stances, and becoming a “grown up” economy during his trip. China has made great strides to become the economic powerhouse of Asia, but approval of its leadership still lags behind the approval of U.S. leadership in seven of the nine countries surveyed. Australia has the largest divide in opinions, while ratings are most closely matched in Vietnam and Malaysia. //

Good morning Chips and this wonderful TOD family. I cannot thank all of you enough for all the comments yesterday on the email I received. I was able to put it off and not allow it to ruin my day. For now I am not doing to address it with my friend. I think I will wait. I believe the right time will present itself. I so appreciate all the suggestions and links that were provided. The folks in this family are the smartest every. I just know that I am very concerned about things here in MT. I have faith and with hard work we will win the day.

Who me? My concern is- my mother is a staunch democrat, but she said she likes huntsman because he sounds and looks good.
So, at some fundamental level, he is connecting.
I hope he does not run third party.

He’s not connecting, he just looks good and sounds good in comparison to his GOP opponents UNTIL you hear his policies. You should be telling your mother what he wants to do with medicare and social security.

At 1% Huntsman is not connecting with anything – besides the 1% like Michael Moore, Morning joke, HuffnPuff etc. Some Democrats like the surface qualities about Hunstman because they really don’t know enough about his policies to make a sound assessment.

I’m sure once your mother knows that Huntsman is for balancing the budget on the backs of seniors, poor people and veterans by slashing these important benefits in order to preserve the Bush tax cuts, her mind will change quickly.

No surprise there. Joe may have left Congress years ago but he’s still as conservative as they come. Meantime the Huntsman lovefest continues. Joe’s endorsement is going to get Huntsman all the way up to 1.88889 percent. A virtual tidal wave.

The media will only push the folks who they perceive to be competitive with PBO in a general. That’s why they are still pushing Huntsman despite his low polling numbers while overlooking Paul and Santorum.

Not good news in that I think Newt would gladly be the VP to Mitt and they could present themselves as the ultimate unity ticket. Newt doesn’t have the campaign ground game or energy/work ethic to run and win Presidency – he’ll leave that up to Mitt and run as VP.

Let’s see if Newt starts taking swings at Mitt or keeps up his 11th commandment crap. I bet it’s the latter.

Plus, Romney could say that Newt will provide the government experience that he’s lacking, having only been outside of government – even when he was governor or running for president for the past decade…

Global economic worries have lately been centered on Europe and the United States, but China is deeply affected as well. A long-time concern for Chinese Communist regime officials has been trying to maintain the export-driven model that has led to high-speed growth. That’s becoming more and more of a challenge, especially given decreased spending power and increased caution among overseas buyers. And now, even official statements are sounding grim on the near-term prospects.

Shen Danyang, Spokesman, PRC Ministry of Commerce: “We cannot be optimistic about the export situation during the coming period.” China’s foreign trade fell 8.3 percent from September to October, ending up at roughly $298 billion. This sum remains a strong gain on last year, but the sharp monthly drop is a cause for concern.

Analysts agree that this export decline could have huge implications for the Chinese economy if it becomes a lasting trend.

The 12th edition of the Dubai Airshow comes to an end on Thursday. The event kicked off on November 13th. It was an important day for the aerospace industry, with the selling of $26 billion worth of aircrafts. Featured in the exhibit were the Boeing C-17 of the UAE armed forces, a Black Hawk helicopter of the UAE Presidential Guard, the Boeing 737-800 of flydubai and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing and Emirates Airline announced an order for 50 Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) aircraft, plus options for an additional 20. All of this cost about $26 billion, making it the single largest commercial aircraft order in Boeing’s 95-year history. The second day of the exhibit was concluded with an order for 50 Airbus A320neo aircraft, worth $4.6 billion, with an option for 30 more by the end of the year. Kuwait-based international aviation lease and finance company ALAFCO, finalized the purchase of the aircraft. This was an increase of the initial agreement for 30 A320neos, made earlier in the year.

The exhibit was a success not only for the big airline companies but also for new technologies and innovations. One of these showcased at the exhibit was a motion touch screen called “gesture control technology” that will be in use by 2013. This year’s Dubai Airshow is the biggest yet, with nearly 55 thousand trade visitors expected over the week. The exhibit has taken on a special significance this year as it is marking the 40th anniversary of the formation of the UAE federation.

Wow – good for Boeing! They’ve had a few tough years, but this is great news. I guess being on the President’s council for export really pays off. And just think of all those jobs. The Administration has worked really hard to increase trade – it can’t be ignored that when the President set the goal to double exports, several scoffed at him. Well, he’s well on the way to meeting that goal – maybe even exceeding it. Since the President wants to limit the country’s reliance on domestic consumption and increase savings, this makes perfect sense as a strategy for jobs – and he doesn’t need Congress for this, which is why it’s happening so smoothly.

Security is tight in the Afghan capital Kabul ahead of the loya jirga traditional assembly set to begin on Wednesday. President Hamid Karzai has called the major meeting of tribal elders and political leaders to discuss, amongst other issues, the possibility of continued U.S. military presence in the country after 2014. Some residents are skeptical about the effectiveness of the meeting.

Gull Rahman, Kabul Resident: “This loya jirga is just a show and the government spent a significant amount of money to hold it, which is just a waste of money. We are not expecting a positive result out of this jirga, because the participants are not aware of the agenda to discuss, they don’t know what they are going to discuss about.”

Afghanistan’s opposition party leader also opposes the meeting, saying it has no legal basis. Last month the Afghan Taliban, which has long fought against the presence of foreign troops in the country, said it would target assembly participants.

The military is preparing to hand over many of Hussein’s ornate palaces used as war headquarters next month as part of its pullout plans. Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Brooks, U.S. Military Historian: “We are returning, back to the Iraqi government, the buildings that we have been using and all the improvements that we’ve made over the time here, as well as some property, such as generators, trailers and things of that nature.”

Victory Base itself was home to 40 thousand U.S. troops and another 25 thousand workers at one point. Now it houses only 4 thousand.

I join the TOD family in wishing Linda and Donna a very happy birthday. Thank you for demonstrating so outstandingly what it means to be activist supporters of President Obama. That goes for you, too, Ms Chips!

Americans Elect says it wants to reform the political system. Campaign watchdogs say it should start by reforming itself.

~snip~

But campaign watchdogs are sounding the alarm about the group’s lack on transparency. In late 2010, Americans Elect changed its tax status from a tax-exempt 527 group to a 501(c)(4), or social welfare organization—the same classification as Crossroads GPS and other dark money outfits. Under tax law, such groups are not permitted to make political advocacy the majority of their activity. Unlike 527 groups, which must publicly disclose its donors, 501(c)(4)s are under no such obligations.

~snip~

Americans Elect officials say they need secret contributions in order to upend a sclerotic system. “We have to be able to raise significant amounts of money to be able to take on the status quo,” Kahlil Byrd, Americans Elect’s chief executive officer, says. Were the group compelled to disclose its donors, he says, there would be “a chilling effect…on people’s willingness to participate in this process.” That is, increased disclosure would dissuade potential big donors. (Before the group switched its tax status, the group received $1.55 million from its chairman, former financier Peter Ackerman, whose son, Elliot, is the group’s CEO.).

thanks for digging this up. I’ve been hearing more about these guys and how they are trying to get on the ballot in time for 2012. I’m not sure which way they lean. If they lean right, then it would help our cause (as it would divie the repub vote). However if they lean left, I would be afraid of them dividing the dem vote. Between these guys and whatever the OWS is going to do we got our work cut out for us. (that’s OK though. I’m not afraid of hard work! :-))

Happy Birthday Donna and LInda! Hope it’s a great one for both of you. (Don’t you love it when your birthday falls on a weekend?)\

Our Prez is looking very spiffy in his Balanese shirt today.

I was surfing through channels yesterday and I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the CNN host (I don’t know who she is) and her guests defending the President against the lies the Repug candidates have been spreading regarding the “lazy” comment. I thought I was dreaming.

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BTW, his wife voted for Obama. I smell a rat. I think Mrs. Cain is just there for the money. After all, Cain is a multimillion. Then that wouldn’t make her clueless. Dunno 😎

I didn’t see Gloria Cain’s expression as clueless when asked if Hermy would be a good president: I saw it as an eyeroll that said “definitely not”while her lips said yes. Always believe the eyes!
I bet Tim Pawlenty wishes he had stayed in the Republican field…..he might be looking pretty sensible and grownup right about now, to the Repub establishment.

“(AP) WASHINGTON — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s top aide suggested Thursday that Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick was “running a dirty tricks shop” and that his office had become “an opposition research arm” of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

In a letter to Patrick, Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades blamed the Democrat’s administration for being behind a Boston Globe report Thursday that documented Romney’s efforts to leave no email records behind when he left office in 2007….

“It is evident that your office has become an opposition research arm of the Obama reelection campaign,” he added.

As proof, Rhoades pointed to the Boston Globe report, noting that Patrick’s chief legal counsel, Mark Reilly, gave the newspaper copies of cancelled checks from 2006 — which are public records — that documented how former Romney administration officials bought their computers.

Rhoades called on Patrick to release all records of contact between his office and Obama advisers David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Jim Messina.

Patrick’s office said it would do so.

“We have fulfilled over 250 public records requests in our five years in office and we will be happy to fulfill this one,” Reilly told The Associated Press.”

Publicly accusing the Governor of Massachusetts of dirty tricks, not orally so it can be denied, but by letter? That’s seems pretty over-the-top.
Gov. Patrick called Romney’s bluff and said he’d release all correspondence between President Obama, David Axelrod and David Plouffe.

Things are getting interesting as Romney displays how not ready for primetime he is.

What’s next?!! Just so you know, this article links to to Huff n Puff–which is why I didn’t provide more details.~

Tea Partiers Meet With Occupy Memphis

Members of the Occupy Memphis movement on Thursday night met with about 75 tea partiers. The meeting was mostly civil, the Associated Press reports, with the “Occupy” members fielding questions. Read more about the meeting here.

Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Dems’ Job Strategy Is Working, Part 3
Posted by Zandar

House Republicans are beginning to crack under the 9% approval rating of Congress and the numbers showing a majority of Americans believe the Republicans are blocking jobs legislation in order to hurt the President. Now all of a sudden, House Republicans are more than happy to pass tax incentives for government contractors and hiring veterans in a unanimous move.

“Veterans of every working-age generation are finding themselves unemployed or seriously underemployed due to the economic downturn,” Representative Jeff Miller, Republican of Florida and chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in support of the bill, which passed. 422 to 0, under a fast-tracked process on the House floor.

The vote followed overwhelming Senate approval and represented a rare bipartisan consensus on elements in the package assembled by the White House in its effort to spur hiring. Republicans have rejected or blocked other pieces of the legislation, including proposals for capital works and money for the hiring of emergency workers and public school teachers.

I’m starting to think what morning Joke said it true. Conservative purist will take 4 more years of (our beloved) President Obama than put Willard Mittens Flippy Floppy Romney in the Oval office. This that make you go hmmmm

I have no doubt Rove and Co will focus on Senate over Presidential campaign. Rove’s money in Senate races could flip close races afterall, Rove money vs Obama money in Presidential race doesn’t have nearly the same bang for it’s buck. Rove drops $10M in Montana and Tester is toast, Rove drops $10M in Missouri and McCaskill is swamped etc.

Three ex-Soviet states were Friday to agree the first steps towards creating a Eurasian economic union, a project backed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to bind closer the former USSR.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kazakhstan and Belarus counterparts Nursultan Nazarbayev and Alexander Lukashenko were to sign a declaration on further economic integration at a summit in Moscow, the Kremlin said in a statement. “The declaration will set out the ultimate aim (of economic integration) as the creation of a Eurasian economic union,” it said.

Putin first evoked the idea of creating a Eurasian Union in a newspaper article published shortly after the announcement that he would seek to return to the Kremlin as president in 2012 polls. The three countries already have a customs union but the creation of the Eurasian Union — which would have its own executive body and oversee a single economic space — would mark a huge step

Shortly before Mitt Romney departed the governor’s office, 11 of his top aides purchased 17 state-issued hard drives, purging the Romney administration’s email records in advance of his presidential campaign. In retrospect, the move seems rather odd, especially for a Republican candidate who likes to talk about transparency.

Maybe this was a standard practice for modern Massachusetts governors? Apparently not.

Top aides to the three Massachusetts governors who preceded Mitt Romney – all of them Republicans – said yesterday they know of no instance when state employees purchased their computer hard drive as they left the administration, as 11 of Romney’s aides did in 2006 as he was laying the groundwork for his first presidential campaign.

The aides from the administrations of William F. Weld, Paul Cellucci, and Jane Swift all said they were not aware of such purchases being made previously.

“I don’t remember anybody buying their hard drives. I don’t remember anybody buying anything,” said Stephen P. Crosby, who worked for Romney’s two predecessors and handled the transition between Jane Swift’s outgoing administration and Romney’s incoming one, and who was also co-chairman of Governor Deval Patrick’s budget and finance transition team. “I can’t even remember anybody discussing it. It certainly wasn’t [standard operating procedure] in any way. That’s almost unthinkable. It seems inherently a bad idea. You almost think you’d want to have a record of everything going on for the public.”

I wonder if the trail could be followed if it would actually show that Willard really paid for each of these hard drives? I also wonder if, or for how long, the purchasers maintained possession of these hard drives? Not that it changes the price of butter, but this curious mind would find the answers interesting.

I cannot take one more minute of Alex Wagner. All she does is spout Republican talking points. Today she’s saying that Obama is getting criticism for being out of the country while the “super committee” is running out of time on their task. And she’s asking why didn’t he take control of this situation when he had a chance, that he’s going to get all the blame for the failure etc. etc. etc. Wagner is trying so hard to appear non-partisan that she looks clearly partisan—-on the Repub side. Richard Wolfe is the only saving grace on her panel. Everyone else is ridiculous.

I could only watch her one time, then I tweeted her that the R journalists and opinionators weren’t a plus-up for her panel. Then somebody on Twitter who said he had a crush on her bashed me. (I notice she doesn’t bash PBO on Rev. Al’s show, which tells ya something.) Bottom line: I’m not “leaning forward” with her on MSNBC. But I’m glad Richard Wolfe was on, as counterbalance.

(CNN) – While campaigning in Miami on Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who’s taken heat over his knowledge of foreign policy, dodged questions on issues related to Cuba.
Asked by a reporter if he supported the “wet-foot, dry-foot policy,” which allows Cuban immigrants to stay in the United States once they get in, Cain responded: “Wet-foot, dry-foot policy?”

The Miami Herald reports that Cain’s handlers then intercepted the questioning and rushed Cain away from the press. When he came back later, Cain didn’t answer another question about the topic, instead saying, “Gotta run, gentleman,” the newspaper reported.

In a speech earlier in the day, Cain seemed to outline his approach to Cuba without going into specifics.

“One of my principles is: Go to the source closest to the problem,” Cain said. “I want to get from Cuban leaders [in South Florida] a solution of what we should do.”

my sense is that they are trying to buy Romney time. There is only a few more weeks to go to the elections so if they can distract voters for a few more weeks, they won’t realize that the emperor “Romney” is not wearing clothes. Cain is a distraction. He has no interest in winning anything and he is fine with it. He is getting paid. Grifter.

This is my first time posting but I am an avid reader and a fan of TOD. I am from Jamaica and therefore have no say in your elections but if I did I would work, work like crazy to elect this fabulous man. (Sigh) I wish he would come to Jamaica, we would all just go crazy. Anyways the main reason I came out of hiding was to tell you that even in Jamaica they covered the news about the boeing contract and the fact that he was bringing 110,000 jobs to the Americans. I’m so angry with the news media for not covering it. Its frustrating in the Island as we would watch cable expecting to see good stuff being said and if it wasn’t for sites like these we would totally hate PBO and say he was destroying the US.

Hiya Philly, you’re very welcome here! Always delighted to have Caribbean visitors, we have a few more who are regulars and they’re usually kind enough not to boast about their weather! That’s just amazing that the Boeing story got more coverage in Jamaica than the US, it really says it all.

Thanks again Philly, and don’t be shy about commenting – we’d love to hear from ya! 😉

Welcome to the TOD family Philly. Soooo jealous of you living in Jamaica. 🙂 Thank you for your wonderful comments. Hope you comment more often. We will work extremely hard to make sure one of the BEST Presidents we’ve been lucky to have is re-elected.

I thought I was going to hurt myself laughing during the segment on Speaker In Name Only John Boehner crying like a baby at the drop of a hat. They play a series of audio clips of his crying jags and it is just hilarious. There is something seriously wrong with the orange man. Also, they have a funny new sound effect for the long pauses that Herman Cain made in that infamous interview about Libya. And of course, they take no mercy on Newt. Lost of fun this week.

Herman Cain’s Brain Fart; Other Cain Nonsense; Newt Gingrich Skyrockets to the Top; John Boehner Has A Serious Crying Problem; The Protect IP Act Will Kill the Internet; NBC Hires Chelsea Clinton and Anyone With A Famous Name; and much more! Brought to you by Bubble Genius!

A very Happy Birthday to Linda and Donna. I hope you have a wonderful day. You both add so much to my days all the time. I would be totally lost without your contributions and, of course, this great place that Chipsticks has created for us. I am still not completely recovered from a nasty cold that turned into bronchitis, but it’s getting better. Still, nothing could stop me from following our amazing President on his tour – thanks entirely to the outstanding work of Chipsticks. Our so-called journalists could learn a lot from this site.

Chips, what a wonderful treat to read the blog this morning and see a birthday greeting tucked in amongst the handsome pictures of the President. Heartfelt thanks. The Birthday announcement is such a wonderful idea, you are just brilliant.

To Donna – my Birthday buddy – may your day be filled with joy, laughter and contentment.

To all who posted B-Day wishes and to all who “lurk” and hold Happy B-Day thoughts, thank you so much for your support today and everyday. As I have said in the past, I was very close to giving up blogging, and then I ran into BWD’s site TOAITR. That site sent me to this one, and because of Chips and all of you I am HOOKED.

This video shows an 84 year old woman who was pepper sprayed in Portland. It is from Current TV (yik on Obermann) but he is only one for a few seconds. My expereince with OWS is that it is very different in each community. This video helped me learn a bit more about the movement in Portland, about political activism from a woman who worked in the Civil rights movement and the Women’s movement. I especially like her comments about the MSM.

YES!! The Sports Gods LOVE futból, which is why it’s Earth’s #1 sport. I say the front/low will move across SoCali fast, the marine layer will burn off and the California sunshine will show us a glorious Galaxy win over the Houston Hooter Boys.

But I’ll have all my GEAR, just in case, including an umbrella so I don’t ruin my new LA GALAXY CHRISTMAS HAT!

We’ll have easy ups for the tailgate, and thankfully, the Riot Squad section has a roof (mostly) over it.

As much as I loathe the Huff & Queen Dragon another site lead me to her dreadful site. They have a caption contest there.

Several of mine would be:

Our President looks so handsome.

He is well received.

Our President gets respect instead of shoes thrown at him.

President Obama makes history again. Obama is the first president to join an annual East Asian leaders meeting.

BTW: If I were a RepuliCON, I would not visit Indonesia. They roast pigs there in a spicy sauce. 😆

Again, Chips thanks for everything you do. Since I too have come out of the closet; and have started posting here, I now know what a safe haven is. Some of the other news blogs calls themselves left leaning; but they advocate the RepubliCon lies by repeating them without subjectivity. So much for leaning forward. I guess they have too; otherwise, their corporate sponsors would leave them.